New Floor and Road Trip

It's been a hectic two months for us. Our air conditioner overflow drain spilled water out onto our laminate wood flooring and ruined the floor in our entry hall and den. Fortunately insurance agreed to pay for the damaged area. We had a near white Pergo on our floors I loved, hubby not so much, and it could not be matched so we had to pick out something new. What a chore. There are so many styles and brands out there. Hubby wanted a dark wood but when we realized it would show dust even more than the lighter colors we decided on something lighter--Shaw's Tennessee hickory. It's beautiful. Our carpet in the bedrooms needed replacing so we put the laminate throughout the house. We did keep tile in the baths, kitchen and laundry.

The installers came on Monday, moved all furniture from our house except for our bedroom. They had to undercut all the door facings and fireplace so the laminate would flow nicely. Dust was everywhere and still is. I may never get the house fully clean. Fortunately for Larry, he has his shop outback and spent most of his time out there. I closed myself up in the bedroom with earplugs, our dog Molly by my side to keep her out of their way. On Wednesday they were through using the loud saw and dismantled our bedroom so I set up a make-shift office in the dining area.
You can see that Molly's bed is beside my chair. She didn't know what to think of the entire situation.

Thursday they moved our recliners back in so that we would have a place to sit comfortably and we were able to relax and watch a little tv. Before it was either sit in camp chairs or on the patio. Friday morning they brought in the remainder of our furniture and then our part of the cleanup began. Below are a couple of pictures.

Each day we get a little more dust out of here. I need to vacuum every wall, closet contents, books on wall shelves, etc. then hopefully as much won't show up on the floors and elsewhere. But, I guess that will have to wait until after our trip. We're afraid if we put off our trip, we won't go, and we need a vacation.

So, we head out Monday the 24th for the last leg of Route 66--Winslow, AZ to LA. Before we reach Arizona, we'll be spending a night at the Inn at Halona, a B&B on the Zuni Reservation in New Mexico. Several of my books, Flames on the Sky and my work in progress, A Stolen Chance, use Zuni animal fetishes in them and I've always wanted to visit the pueblo. I've purchased fetishes significant to the stories. Of course, I could always add another one.

When we reach the wharf in LA we plan to drive up Route 1, visit the Hearst Castle, Carmel, Monterrey, and San Francisco. We'd like to tour Alcatraz. We have cousins near San Francisco so will visit them and show us a few sites before we head home.

Stay tuned for updates and pictures of the places we visit.

Thanks for stopping by. Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda